The invention relates to a recoil assembly for a pull starter such as those found on small internal combustion engines.
Recoil starters are commonly installed on small internal combustion engines for manual starting of the engine. Examples of products having engines equipped with a recoil starter include lawnmowers, snowblowers, leaf blowers, pressure washers, generators, and the like. Known recoil starters include a starter rope that is pulled by an operator to rotate a reel. The reel is coupled to the crankshaft of an engine for imparting rotation thereto only when the reel is rotated in one direction with respect to the crankshaft. After the engine is started, the reel is free to rotate with respect to the crankshaft and generally remains substantially stationary during engine operation. A recoil spring is provided such that the starter rope is automatically rewound upon the reel after the engine is started.
The present invention provides a recoil starter including a winding housing and a reel that is rotatably coupled to the winding housing for rotation about a central axis. The winding housing includes a first surface and a spring tab that is spaced from the central axis and that extends from the first surface. The recoil starter also includes a spirally wound spring. The spirally wound spring includes an outer end portion that is coupled to the reel, a coiled portion that extends around the central axis, and an inner end portion. The inner end portion of the spring includes a guide portion that extends between the central axis and the spring tab, and a hook portion that extends radially outwardly from the central axis and that engages the spring tab to restrict movement of the inner end with respect to the winding housing. The spirally wound spring is generally an elongated strip that has a first surface and a second surface, and is configured such that the first surface faces radially outwardly and the second surface faces radially inwardly in the coiled portion, and such that the first surface generally faces and/or engages the spring tab.
Other features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description, claims, and drawings.